Echoes
by Cap10
Summary: Mirai life had changed in so many ways in the month since the Great Tokyo Quake tore her life to shreds, but perhaps the the biggest change that had happened was the fact she was practically a living ghost haunting the rooms that she and her brother once shared. Tag Episode 11.
1. Echoes

_**Author's Note**_ _\- Several years ago I did an exchange in Japan and I was there during the first anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake. As a geologist I could understand how and why the earth moved, as a disaster responder I could understand the rescue efforts, but it was not until a became good friends with a girl whose sister did not survive the event that I was able to get a glimpse of human toll. When someone dies they leave echoes in the lives around them. When they die unexpected those echoes can haunt people for years._

 _ **Disclaimer-**_ _This story takes place during Episode 11 and as such as spoilers for the end of the series. Also I do not happen to own Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 so this interpretation is completely fanmade._

* * *

 **Echoes…**

* * *

I have changed in so many ways in the month Great Tokyo Earthquake tore my life to shreds. Nightmares terrorize my nights and well-meaning people haunt my days. Even as I watch Tokyo being rebuilt around me, I can't stop feeling like I am falling apart. The people around keep trying to rescue me, they tell me that there is nothing that I could have done. Deep down I know they are lying. My brother is dead and it is all my fault.

I do not doubt his death. I watched the life dissolve from Yūki's little frame, I watched his ghost fade before my eyes, I watched as his body disappeared in smoke when he was cremated 3 weeks after the earthquake. I have prayed at his little shrine in the middle of the night when no one was awake to hear me cry. Yet, even though deep down I know that he is gone for good, I can't help but wonder why I still hear his voice in my dreams…why do I wake with the echo of Yūki's hand still clutched in mine…

Sometime in these past weeks I become a living ghost who wanders the halls in my brother's stead. I haunt the rooms my brother and I use to share. I only take care of myself when someone else prompts. I have lost enough weight that my parents whisper about getting me help. I have made the choice to place one foot in the grave in the unspoken home that Yūki's spirit would return to myside…that I would no longer be alone in our suffocating apartment.

* * *

 _ **End Note**_ _\- For the souls whom remain broken long after the wreckage has been cleared. Buildings can be rebuilt, but not always the lives that surround them._


	2. In Each Others Lives

_**Author's Note-**_ _Hello everyone. If you have read any of my other works then you will probably realize that I am someone who writes a lot about disaster. You will have probably also noticed that I tend to stick with the historical and scientific facts whenever possible. Which probably makes you wonder, why am I writing a ghost story? Simply put, if you spend much time in Japan you will realized that ghosts are a pivotal part of the grieving process in the wake of natural disaster._

 _ **Disclaimer**_ _-While I have read a fair amount of research about Japanese ghosts appearing after disasters, interviewed friends who have experienced situations similar to those in Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, and actually walked some of the streets described in the anime, I am an outsider. Any differences with actual Japanese culture are a combination of ignorance and artistic choice._

* * *

… **In Each Other's Lives**

* * *

I am dead. I would have known this even if the kind old priest or the nurse who fell down the stairs hadn't told me. I am dead and nothing is going to change that, but I promised that I would go home with Mirai and I don't want to break my very last promise. So instead of going with the kind old priest from the local shrine to wait proper burial like many of the adult's do I stay near the hospital where they have wrapped by body in plastic and placed it in a big hole in the ground until I can be cremated someday in the future.

I am far from the only child who chose stay at the hospital. By the time I crossed over there were close to two dozen of us playing in the hospital courtyard under the dead nurse's watchful eye. She even managed to find us a football somewhere in the wreckage so that we could play in one of the few open courtyards. Every once in a while another someone would wander across the field. Most would not see us, but a few of could and we would see them smile at us playing.

Oh how my heart thrilled when I heard Mirai shout my name calling me from the game. Those words meant that Mirai could see me! She could actual see me! At first I could barely contain my excitement, but then I noticed why.

Her life's thread is worn and thread bear.

Instantly I became am worried for her. I could help but think that she is dying. I do not want Mirai to die. I don't want Mom and Dad to be even sadder because they lost us both. So I make it my mission to make sure that my sister makes it home safely. I would be cheerful and keep her company until we were safe together.

In the end it was Mirai who had to keep us pointed in the right direction most of the way home. The world ended up being a confusing place. I am told that it is very easy for ghost to get lost. It makes sense. It is as though we are being pulled in two directions all of the time. On one side the jumble of buildings lay before you, on the other side is the beyond. When you are dead the only think that keeps you grounded is people. You become very good at finding people. Just like I was very good at finding Mari's daughter.

But people are not enough to keep a ghost on this world forever. Ever step I took closer to home I could feel myself getting weaker, tired. All I wanted to do was rest, but I couldn't abandon my sister. I had to make sure that Mirai made it home safely.

I succeeded at my mission. I watch her cry in Mama's shoulder and Mirai's life thread doesn't seem so ragged any more. I am a peace now. Both of us have made it home.

There is a new journey ahead of me, one filled with adventure that I can barely imagine. I move forward without fear because I know that someday Mirai will catch up with me under the span of some great bridge and we will be happy. But until that happens I will can't help but wonder does takamanohara have robots? I guess I better go find out.

* * *

 _ **End Note**_ _\- I hope that you enjoyed this little piece. Thank you so much for reading._


End file.
